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History

The Western Canada Mennonite Historical Society was organized on 24 May 1973 with the goal of collecting and publishing in all areas of Canadian Mennonite life in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. This vision was nurtured by three professional historians: John B. Toews and Henry Klassen teaching at University of Calgary and Theodore Regehr teaching at University of Saskatchewan. The first annual general meeting was held in Saskatoon on 24 November 1973 when the following were elected to the executive: John B. Toews, Chairman; Theodore Regehr, Vice Chairman; Gilbert Epp, Treasurer; and Lorne Buhr, Secretary. By October of 1974 it was being known as the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan and Alberta and it had obtained charitable donation status from the Canadian government. Because of the difficulties posed by operating in two provinces, the Alberta contingent withdrew and the Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta (MHSA) arose on 12 July 1986. On that date, Bill and Elenora (nee Dyck) Janzen (Camrose), David Wiebe-Neufeldt (Lethbridge), Carl Schlichting (Edmonton), Henry Goerzen & Erna (nee Warkentin) Goerzen (Didsbury), Harry & Gladys Stauffer (Tofield), Marvin Schmidt, Mary Epp, Eric & Anne (nee Klassen) Harder, Irene (nee Epp) Klassen, Anne Falk, and Helen Brown were present. A Steering Committee was formed, consisting of Henry Goerzen, Harry Stauffer, and Jean Penner (Edmonton), with the first general meeting held on 1 November 1986 in Red Deer. Henry Goerzen wrote the editorial for the first newsletter in November 1986, noting the focus of the society would be to "collect and encourage writing of history, identify and inventory artifacts, genealogy and publish". The administration of the MHSA was conducted and records held in the home and granary of Henry Goerzen in Didsbury. The chairs of the board have been: Henry Goerzen (Didsbury), Jake Harder (Edmonton), Colin Neufeldt (Edmonton, 2002-2006, 2008-2010), Vince Friesen (Edmonton, 2006-2008), and William Janzen (2010-). In 2002 the operation moved to the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) building (Skyline Drive, Calgary), in 2003 to the MCC Thrift Store Mezzanine (Calgary), and in 2004 to the 2nd floor of the MCC Tower (Calgary). At that time, an environmentally-controlled vault was constructed. It is a member of the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada and the Alberta Society of Archivists.

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The Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta was established as an informal society in 1986 and, since 1997, has acquired archival records pertaining to Mennonites in Alberta.<br><br>Total Volume: 20 metres of textual records; Inclusive Dates: 1870s-present; Predominant dates: 1928-present